Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH5 4K Video Test Review. Deeply 2018… from Pier-Yves Menkhoff on Vimeo.

Our long term reader Pier-Yves Menkhoff posted his full GH5 review:

The Passage Pommeraye in Nantes was filmed in 4K with the Lumix DMC-GH5 and the Panasonic Leica 12-60mm F/2.8-4.0. The second one is very wonderful for me. It seems to me even better than the Panasonic 12-35 in wide angle mode. No one Tripod or similar. Editing with Final Cut Pro X. Enjoy…

When I read many press, blogs, etc. the new version of any product is always the BEST. This is even more pronounced when I visit Anglo-Saxon blogs. NON ONE RESTRAINT. A new product immediately renders obsolete the previous generation. WE MUST CONSUME. The testers have “Neopathy” (Sick of Novelties). They must destroy what can still work. The DMC-GH4, once adored, has become, to read some, completely OUTDATED. It is pathetic.

I am just as stunned by the tests of some hybrid, DSLR, etc. It’s AUTOPSY. We are declined results that do not have any utility in the daily life of any director. For example, I am amazed by the tests of microphones indoors while filming takes place in the street, elsewhere … We are imposed Lavaliere micro useless indoor in quiet place, unsightly like a “furuncle” over a shirt, while a good microphone Super cardioid does better. But it is so “Pro” !!! We must impress the Client and our… EGO.

Now Panasonic copies Apple. It broadcasts a not finalized product with multiple upcoming updates. One paying one. 99 €. 2 000 € is not enough expensive for Panasonic. The new flagship Lumix, the DMC-GH5, takes over most of the functions of the DMC-GH4 by improving them. For sure. However, are these improvements really USEFUL in the concrete and in relation to the DMC-GH5 tariff ? We can ask ourselves the question.

The DMC-GH5 provides many benefits that are lacking in GH4. Among them, double stabilization, autofocus on 250 points, resolution of the viewfinder and screen, size for the last ones, etc. It also brings some criticism. The resolution of the viewfinder decreases noticeably during an abrupt change in brightness, just as autofocus can be caught unawares depending on the shot.
I am not convinced by the usefulness of spending 1 000 € more for improvement of the 4K recording. Who delivers 4K movies ? Who has a 4K compatible TV ? Certainly, I like the 4K to be able to crop in the image to edit. However, I have never had a request for delivery 4K movies. I also do not believe that a “Professional” is able to make a difference between 8 or 10 Bits on any classic TV or on iMac screen. Even 5K. Other sample, I do not care about Wi-Fi on my different Lumix. I have never used Wi-Fi mode on my GH4, GX80 or GM5.

About price, the one of the DMC-GH5 is particularly aggressive. As much as the difference was only 500 € between the generations GH3 and GH4, it is more or less 1 000 € between GH4 and GH5 generation.

Now, we can fond the GH4 at about 900 €, even less on eBay, and its “R” version at around 1 200 €.
For those who still have a GH4, I think it is better to wait… 2018 that the GH5 is completely finalized and that its price has dropped. The value of the GH4 is not going to flop in one year. It remains to be a WONDERFUL product. Who FULLY exploits his GH4 or GH5?
Already, many dealers sell separately the DMC-GH5 + 12-60mm F/2.8-4.0 kit. The body is sold alone more or less 1 600 € in Maine-et-Loire and Paris. A GH4 price at its publication…